A majority of Harvard Medical School faculty actually follow their own advice, from diet to exercise to getting enough sleep, according to a survey by the editors of the Harvard Health Letter published in its October issue. In fact, many Harvard physicians may even be overachievers when it comes to staying slim and keeping fit.

"The members of the faculty who answered our survey seem to eat a little less, and to weigh a little less than most people their age in the U.S.," said editor-in-chief Anthony Komaroff, M.D.

However, mindful of research etiquette, Dr. Komaroff pointed to a possible response bias, not to mention the usual self-reporting distortions. Those who answered the survey may be somewhat above average in their healthy habits, he said. So the results might be skewed, since those who were willing to answer the survey could also be those with the healthiest lifestyles.

Still, among the anonymous faculty members who responded, there were a few couch potatoes and smokers.

The editors e-mailed the survey to 15,229 current faculty members and a total of 2,115, or 14%, responded. The results were collected in June and July of this year.

Forty percent of the respondents were younger than 40; only 5.3% were over 70. Fifty-six percent were men. The percentages of those working in specialty medicine or research were 41.7% for each category. Only 9.5% of the group were in primary care medicine.

When asked about their diets, results showed physicians were getting the message about healthy eating most of the time.

More than 81% reported they do indeed eat breakfast every day. And nearly half the group (48.9%) said they consume three to four servings of fruits and vegetables daily. An impressive 56.9% said they used olive oil rather than butter or margarine. Succumbing to fast food was a rare event for 58.7%. More than half (51.2%) said they drank one to five alcoholic drinks a week.

Physicians fell short when it came to eating sufficient amounts of fish and grains. More than two-thirds admitted they ate less than three servings of whole grains daily, and 53.9% said they ate fish less than twice a week.

Just under 21% said they regularly talked to their patients about diet compared with 23.9% who admitted they sometimes discussed nutrition. Almost 40% said the question wasn't applicable to their line of work.

When asked about their weight, 47.5% said they had tried dieting in the past five years with an admirable 55.2% saying they used portion control to shed pounds. However, the low-carb craze caught on among physicians, too; 33.8% said they dieted by cutting carbs.

The physicians tended to be thin and fit. Their average body mass index was 23.9, and 65.3% had a BMI between 18.5 and 25. The authors noted this was exceptional "considering that only about a third of Americans have a healthy BMI."

On exercise, the Harvard troops enjoyed feeling the burn. Forty-six percent said they exercised three to five times a week and 59.4% said they worked out 30 to 60 minutes each exercise session. More than 43% said they enjoy high-intensity exercise like jogging, while 35% said walking was their most frequent exercise.

Still, there were some back-sliders: 15.2% said they exercised less than once a week.

The physicians did well on shut-eye: 68.1%, got six to seven hours of sleep every night, and 18.9% got eight to nine hours. Just under 13% under slept, functioning on fewer than six hours.

As for nutritional supplements, more than 77% took a multivitamin, although 90.6% did not take fish oil capsules regularly. About a quarter of the group (26.3%) took vitamin C when they had a cold even though the latest clinical evidence has shown no significant benefit. Only 28.3% took calcium supplements.

Alternative medicine played a role for some. Twelve percent had been treated by a chiropractor, and 11.5% had used acupuncture. Twenty-eight percent had used herbal supplements, such as St. John's wort or ginseng. More than one-third (36.8%) said they were "open-minded" about alternative medicine; 25% said they felt "cautious," and 16.8% described themselves as "skeptical."

How did they do on health-risk screening?

For heart disease, more than 57% said they rated their risk as low, and 73.7% said they use exercise to reduce that risk. Under 24% said they took prophylactic aspirin.

For cancer, 39 respondents (1.9%) admitted they smoked. Twenty-eight percent got a colonoscopy by age 50. Forty-five percent of the men got PSA screening less often than every other year. Thirty-nine percent of the women had a mammogram every year, and almost half (49.7%) did a breast self-exam more than twice a year. Nearly two-thirds (60.6%) got a Pap smear every year, and 18.4% less often than every other year.

As for basic primary care, 55.2% got a flu shot every year; 61.1% said they'd had a physical in the last year; and a large majority (91.7%) had a primary care physician.

"By and large," the authors concluded, "the faculty members who answered the survey are doing the right things to live long and healthy lives."

Reviewed by
Rubeen K Israni, MD, Fellow, Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

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